Eleanor Honnywill ( – 11 April 2003; Biscoe,
later Eleanor, Lady Fuchs) was instrumental in supporting the work of
British Antarctic Survey
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...
(BAS).
Career
Honnywill won the 1975
Fuchs Medal
The Fuchs Medal is a medal awarded by The British Antarctic Survey for "''Outstanding devotion to the British Antarctic Survey's interests, beyond the call of normal duty, by men or women who are or were members of the Survey, or closely connected ...
of the
British Antarctic Survey
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...
(BAS) in recognition of her service to the BAS and its predecessor the Falklands Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS). She had been secretary to the 1955-58
Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) of 1955–1958 was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. It was the first expedition to reach the South ...
, based in the expedition's London headquarters.
In 1958, she moved to FIDS as personal assistant to
Vivian Fuchs
Sir Vivian Ernest Fuchs ( ; 11 February 1908 – 11 November 1999) was an English scientist-explorer and expedition organizer. He led the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition which reached the South Pole overland in 1958.
Biography
Fuchs ...
when he took up the directorship, and worked with him on the expedition's papers and his ''Of Ice and Men'' (1982, Anthony Nelson; ), the history of the FIDS and BAS.
Honnywill Peak
Honnywill Peak () is a rock peak, high, immediately southeast of Williams Ridge on the west side of Stratton Glacier in the Shackleton Range of Antarctica. It was first mapped in 1957 by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
The Commonw ...
in the
Shackleton Range
The Shackleton Range is a mountain range in Antarctica. Rising at Holmes Summit to , it extends in an east–west direction for about between the Slessor and Recovery glaciers.
The range was named after Sir Ernest Shackleton, leader of the ...
in Antarctica is named for her.
Her book ''The Challenge of Antarctica'' was published in 1969 (Methuen, ) and republished in 1984 (Anthony Nelson, ).
Personal life
She married Captain Richard Buston Honnywill, a naval officer.
After his death, and that of Lady Joyce Fuchs in 1990, she married Sir
Vivian Fuchs
Sir Vivian Ernest Fuchs ( ; 11 February 1908 – 11 November 1999) was an English scientist-explorer and expedition organizer. He led the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition which reached the South Pole overland in 1958.
Biography
Fuchs ...
(1908-1999) on 8 August 1991.
[ ''From The Times, 13 November 1999'']
References
2003 deaths
British women scientists
British Antarctic scientists
Women Antarctic scientists
Wives of knights
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